Applause for all the New Year new gym members showing up where I work out and getting the tour. Hope they stay with it. Wish I could tell each one of them to hang in there.

Here are some things that could help:

First, don’t get hurt. Chill and moderate your passion. The number of people who hurt themselves at the gym is out of control.

Second, go slow. Just show up and soon your body will signal to you that it wants to do more. Listen to your body.

Third, stay away from personal trainers. As a group they have no idea how to keep you injury free.

Fourth, if you don’t cut down your calories, being at the gym won’t help you. The highs you get from working out will help you get past the eating urges.

Fifth, what you are looking for is health, not “the look.” Health is its own reward. Enjoy it as it returns.

Sixth, no one is looking at you. People who are exercising are wrapped up in their own routine. Seventh, no one has it easier at the gym than you do. Those who are super fit are pushing it harder than you can tell, and they suffer more than you do. Let that myth go.

Eighth, accept your body type and work with what you have. The body you have can do amazing things. Revel in it; enjoy it.

And lastly, this time next year when you are an old gym hand, make friends of the people who are new. They just might come back because they meet great people like you.